JD/PhD: Department of Psychology

The JD/PhD Program is designed to expose lawyers and psychologists to the growing number of issues that involve both fields, such as competence, mental illness and incapacity, and the field of behavioral law and economics.

Both degrees can be earned in six to seven years course of study. Students will generally spend their first year in the Department of Psychology. The second academic year is spent full-time in the first-year curriculum of the Law School. Years three and four continue with study at the Law School, with some course work in Psychology possible. The remaining three years are spent with psychology coursework, a PhD qualifying examination and PhD dissertation research and writing.

Students should apply contemporaneously for admission to both the Department of Psychology and the Law School, noting on both that they have applied to the other. There may be a rare case when a student who has been accepted into the Ph.D. program may, in the first year of that course of study, apply for admission to the Law School and to the Dual Degree Program.

Once admitted to both programs independently, students will be able to seek each school’s relevant financial support. Students will pay for Law School in the usual ways (assets, loans, need-based financial assistance if qualified). The Ph.D. program may provide tuition, fees, stipends, and health insurance support according to the Department’s requirements.